Moments Caught and Lost
by evil older sister
Summary: Companion to 'A choice to the Left' light to moderate Peter/Nathan but not incest. Two young men discover their love three times after being forced to forget


_**Companion to 'A choice to the left' Just a quick little piece on Nathan and Peter love, remember this is not physically incest despite the beliefs o**_f _**the characters. That being said, I'm not sure if it would count as legally incest considering according to the paper work they are brother. Interesting devate but not relevant I suppose. And now without further ado…**_

Moments Caught and Lost

The first time Nathan Petrelli admitted, at least to himself, that he was attracted to his little brother he was sixteen. There had been moments before that, but he had managed to brush them off, reassign the feelings, or ignore them entirely. But this time he actually felt his thought process shut down for a few moments, leaving him bereft of his usual excuse. It had happened at Peter's first swim meet of the school year. Peter had been on various swimming teams since he was six and always been comfortable in the water. This year he had actually made it to the high school varsity team, beating out a senior who had been on the team for two years. Neither of their parents could make this meet, or many of his others, but Nathan made a point to attend each one. Their high school had won and Nathan had spotted Peter cutting through the crowd toward him and Nathan could only gape, his mouth suddenly bone dry. Peter's shirt had been a little damp from his still wet skin and despite the towel he carried there were still drips of water clinging to his face, having slid from his soaking wet hair. It was his eyes, as clichéd as that sounds, that caught him; though they had always been bright, eager to see where life would take him, today the light shone beacon in the night with the combination of pride at the win, his normal love of life, and true pleasure as they caught sight of Nathan. He went into autopilot and by the time he had regained some of his senses he was already halfway home with Peter chattering in the passenger seat. As he thought about it that night he let himself sink, for a single moment, into the true depths of his feeling for his brother and best friend; then he closed his eyes, steeled himself, and resolved to never let his feelings come to life. He wasn't aware that his resolved would last two years before it would break.

Peter for his part had been aware of what he felt for Nathan from the onset of puberty; there was no single moment for him it simply was. He of course ignored any and all urges regarding his brother other than those that would be acceptable, and if his dreams didn't cooperate, well only he knew that. Life would have gone on like this, both brothers deeply repressed except for another single incident. It was a weekend, a rare one where both boys had nothing planned; their parents were off at some charity event for the evening and they each left to their own devices. Peter, feeling mischievous, snuck into Nathan's room and snatched the book Nathan had been reading.

The resulting scuffle had brought them into far closer quarters than they had been in since Nathan had had his realization two years before. Nathan finally pinned a laughing and struggling Peter to the bed and they had an almost surreal moment where they just looked into each other's eyes. Masks fell and suddenly both knew; the kiss that followed was soft and tentative. After the kiss it was three days before the brothers could even look at each other in eyes, another two after that before they could speak to each other. If their parents picked up on the tension they didn't mention it. Over those five days both boys found that repression didn't' work anymore; even as they would try to push back the urges the kiss would push forward and wouldn't leave their minds. When they finally did talk about what happened they had to admit that this wasn't going away. They decided to see where it went, in true typical teenage fashion, and learned each other's bodies with careful abandon.

It was four months before Angela Petrelli found out about the boys _indiscretion_, and she took immediate action to ensure it wouldn't interfere with her plans. She called them into her personal study, sat them down in front of her and told them calmly that she knew about their shameful behavior. She went on to explain that they obviously would not be allowed to keep up with how they were behaving and she would ensure they wouldn't tarnish the family name. She icily explained that they would of course not be allowed to keep their memories and called a man named Marcus into the room.

Marcus was an old man, withered and bent with age; his face was as pale as his snow white hair. He spoke quietly, respectfully to Angela with a distinct French accent, "Are you sure this is what you wish, Madam, you know there are risks."

"You can do it, can you not?" her voice was as sharp as her perfectly manicured nails. Both Peter and Nathan sat there not really sure why they hadn't moved yet after their mother had told them to sit down. Neither felt afraid, sure that their mother wouldn't truly do anything to hurt them.

"Oui, Madam, but there may be sloppiness, more damage in the second person I sift through. I will lose much of my precision after the first set of memories."

"Then make sure you take Nathan's memories first, he is more valuable to my plans than Peter." Peter felt his insides freeze and a part of his heart break at his mother's impersonal tone. Nathan could only feel the roaring fires of anger at her casual dismissal of Peter. They were silent as Marcus approached Nathan first. Peter watched, internally trying to struggle, to yell, something to distract the man as he laid his hand on Nathans forehead. Two minutes passed and Peter saw Marcus lift his hands away and Angela gently guide Nathan into the next room, speaking to him in low tones. Peter willed Nathan silently to turn, just once; he knew that whatever Angela had done if Nathan looked then it could be undone. Nathan didn't so much as glance behind him, and as Peter saw an aged hand descend to cover his eyes he knew that no matter what he would never quite trust Angela Petrelli again.

_Just a moment_

Trina wasn't Nathan's first girlfriend, the boy was 18 after all, and she wasn't even the worst of the lot. That distinct honor went to a girl named Jillian that Nathan had dated when he was fifteen, but that is another story. No Trina was nice, polite, kind and pretty; both the Senior Petrelli's adored her, and Peter could admit he liked well enough as a person. That didn't explain why, two weeks after they began dating, finding Nathan and Trina sharing a soft kiss made Peter feel like his insides had frozen. That he wanted to cry and scream all at once. That for a single moment he knew what it felt like to have his brother's lips touch his; the moment passed quickly leaving him shaken and near to tears. He retreated, never looking back to notice that Nathan's eyes had snapped up to see him, he didn't see Nathan stepping back from Trina. He was already too far away to hear as Nathan gently excused himself from the confused girl and go after his younger brother.

"Pete?" Peter heard his brother's voice through the door to his room and quickly dashed the tears away, wishing desperately that he could make the obvious signs of his pain vanish. As Nathan entered the room it struck Peter how little time the two had spent together these last two weeks. Every time it seemed like they would have time to themselves either their mother would have some function that he must attend, or Trina would come a steal away for girlfriend time. "Peter, what's the matter?" Nathan reached out a hand to touch Peter's shoulder.

Peter had never been able to lie to his brother so he answered truthfully, "I have no idea" He doesn't realize that his tears have begun again until he feels Nathan pull him closer for a hug. He doesn't freeze like he thinks he should, he melts into his brother's warmth; clinging to for several long minutes. He reluctantly pulled back however when he remembered that brothers don't hug like that unless someone was dying.

Nathan was staring at Peter a little oddly when Peter caught sight of his face again. He asked, in an oddly gentle tone "Are you alright? Do I need to get Mother?"

Peters breath caught in panic, "NO, you can't tell her Nathan. Please, you can't." Peter had no idea where this sudden panic came from but he knew that his mother couldn't know of this afternoon.

Nathan caulked an eyebrow, "Peter you're freaking out over nothing, relax, I won't tell her"

Peter looked at him though his eyelashes, "Promise?" he asked in a small voice.

"I promise, now we're just going to hang out the rest of the day, we haven't done that in a while." They spent the rest of the day chatting about nothing, and they both felt better for it. If Nathan kept a hand on Peter the entire afternoon, and if Peter would sometimes stare at Nathan for just a little too long, well there was no harm in that, right? Two nights later at dinner Nathan announced, after being asked about Trina that he had broken up with her. Explaining she had gotten too clingy for his taste; Nathan couldn't help but notice the brief look of relief that passed over Peter's expressive face, or how he had visibly brightened the rest of the evening.

That night they kissed for the first time, to their knowledge. This time around there was no agonizing, no real decisions about trying it; it came as naturally as breathing. At Peter's insistence they were cautious and despite Angela's suspicious eyes they managed a full six months before she caught on. This time she actually walked in on them kissing, and no more than an hour after that they were sitting before Marcus again as he tsked and muttered about brain damage before removing their memories anyway.

This time Angela set Nathan up with an out of town girl, named Meredith, hoping that the long distance could distract him from Peter. The plan backfired rather spectacularly when the man actually took off with her. Angela chose more carefully after that, selecting Heidi as perfect and grooming her carefully before she even met Nathan. They were married after a long courtship when they both turned 20. They had two boys, the result of the only two times that Nathan could bring himself to touch her, events that Angela orchestrated after finding Peter and Nathan again; though they were married he always spent more time with Peter than his wife, and no one ever questioned it. And so it went for ten years, all three adults were somewhat unhappy but unable to act on it. Then Peter's graduation party happened, the attack on Nathan and Heidi happened and Peter found himself in the hospital comforting his distraught and guilty brother.

Though it was still several weeks before they touched again for the first time, that night of comfort severely damaged the barriers that Angela continued to put between them. They lasted together until just before Peter met Simone. This time Angela decided to inject an argument into their relationship, after they were wiped. She implanted commands that would cause Nathan to doubt Peter, and added into her plans little details that would pull Peter away from Nathan. Since Heidi was out of commission, so to speak, Angela arranged for Nathan to go to Vegas and sleep with some hooker there, for an extra edge. Despite her planning she failed, she couldn't keep the brothers from loving each other enough to try and protect one another.

**Ha another one done. Now before anyone speaks up, I know the Haitian isn't white. He is too young however to be the ones to remove their memories. So I created another character with the same set of powers. It could happen. Also I would like to point out; I am female, meaning that even guys thoughts will be written from the perspective of a woman. So if it seems to sappy at any point blame that.**


End file.
